Francona and Dunn and 0-2 Walks

Tito’s relationship with Dustin Pedroia was renowned for their give-and-take teasing. On page 26, after Shaughnessy addresses Francona’s self-deprecating style when he talks about his pwn playing days, Dan points out that Francona “swung at everything, and he almost never struck out.” After extolling a number of Francona’s amateur achievements, Shaughnessy adds this fun quote:

There’s one other stat that nobody knows about, said Dustin Pedroia (kiddingly)….”He is the only player with a minimum of 1,000 plate appearances to never work an 0-2 walk. How awesome is that? He had no fight in him. None! That’s unbelievable!”

Well, of course, Pedey was right (about the absence of whiffs, not about the competitive nature of Francona). While all the data is not available, we do know that Tito had 1827 plate appearances from 1981-90. And of the 72 PA he had from 1988 on that he had an 0-2 count, after that Tito drew no walks. He struck out 14 times and picked up 14 hits.

The 2012 leader in walks, after an 0-2 count, was not surprisingly Adam Dunn.